Wednesday evening, EYA, the developer of the South Robinson Terminal property, launched a sneak attack to build opposition to a proposal by FAW and others that the City mandate that EYA use barges to move dirt from and to the South Robinson Terminal site. EYA launched this attack by sending an email Wednesday evening to a few of the email addresses it has accumulated in recent months. Those who have most actively opposed trucking and supported barging did not get the email. Here is the link to that email:http://02a2030.netsolhost.com/images/EYA_Email_Claim_About_Hauling_final.pdf

EYA needs to move a lot of dirt, and it wants to move that dirt by truck over Old Town streets, past historic homes. EYA first has to remove 55,000 tons of contaminated soil from the terminal site. That equates to 5,500 truckloads. EYA must then bring in 70,000 tons of replacement soil (7,000 truckloads) to raise the site above the flood plain. Finally, EYA must then remove 25,000 tons (2,500 truckloads) of soil it just brought in when it excavates for an underground garage. That is a total of 15,000 round-trip dump-truck trips!

Barging may be more costly than trucking, but the damage 15,000 round-trip truck trips will do to Old Town streets, the utilities under those streets (water, sewer, and gas lines), and to nearby historic homes, as well as the dirt flying off those trucks and into nearby homes, will far exceed the value of the public benefits EYA claims for the South Robinson Terminal development.

FAWers need to act quickly to counter EYA’s opposition to the sensible alternative of requiring EYA to move all that dirt by barge, utilizing the existing terminal pier. First, please email members of Council urging them not to be swayed by EYA’s supporters, most of whom will not be impacted by EYA’s trucking activity, and to support the barging option. Here are the email addresses for Mayor Euille and the members of City Council

Second, speak to Council tomorrow (Saturday) morning, during the “open mike” period at the beginning of the Council meeting, to express your opposition to EYA’s trucking proposal and your support for the barging option. Tomorrow’s Council meeting will start at 9:30 a.m. Members of the public can speak for up to three minutes during open mike. You can sign up in advance to speak at this link:http://survey.alexandriava.gov/s3/City-Council-Speakers-Form, by calling the Council Clerk’s office, at 703-746-4550, or by filing out a speaker’s registration form when you come to the Council meeting; those forms will be found on a table at the rear of the Council chamber. Open mike, officially called the Public Discussion Period, is Docket Item #2.

_______________________

Please contact us if you have questions about what is happening along the waterfront. Also visit www.alexandriawaterfront.org for up-to-date news about waterfront issues.

Do you know someone who would like to or should be receiving the FAW waterfront News Updates? If so, please go to www.alexandriawaterfront.org and click on the “Join Us” tab so that we can add their address to our email list.

Bert and Mark

Bert Ely and Mark Mueller, Co-chairs of Friends of the Alexandria Waterfront

Friends of the Alexandria Waterfront let’s OTP re-publish their newsletters to our readership. Please consider getting involved with the organization. The organization is free to join though contributions are welcome. You can sign-up to become a FAWer by clicking http://www.alexandriawaterfront.org.